Major Ron
by whitem
Summary: Ron splits off to a very different career after starting college...


OK, finished another one of my many ideas, and I hope y'all enjoy this one.

Disclaimer: All Kim Possible characters belong to that funny looking mouse…

Major Ron

It was in Ron's second year of college that he started to get other interests besides cooking. A major one for him was aeronautics. After all, he always liked riding in planes… jumping out of them? Not so much, even though it was to help his good friend, and now wife, Kim.

After the first class that covered the basics of how planes fly, Ron took to the subject like a mole rat to cheese.

Another interest that piqued the young blonde's curiosity, was the military. Specifically… the Airforce. So after talking with a recruiter on campus, Ron Stoppable, all around goof in high school, inventor of the Naco, and Sidekick to the teen hero Kim Possible... started working on and flying experimental jets for the Airforce. Within a year's time, he rose to the rank of Major. In fact, he broke all records in achieving this rank so fast.

Kim, Ron's wife, quickly started to call him Major Ron, and somehow others' heard this, and pretty soon just about everyone referred to him in the same manner.

It was when Ron had heard that his wife's father had become the Director of Middleton Aeronautics and Space Administration (MASA for short) that he went to talk to his now father-in-law. After a couple of months he became one of the organizations top test pilots for space vehicles.

…x x x x…

This brings us to now. Dr. James Timothy Possible is proud of his new achievement. It was a revolutionary vehicle that he called a 'Space Sled'. It's a cigar-shaped craft with a detachable engine mounted on the bottom. The engine would propel the craft at high velocity and then detach, breaking away from the Sled at a forty-five degree angle.

A cable is attached to the rear of both the engine and the sled, and the weight of the engine would actually sling-shot the Sled forward at an incredible speed. Using state of the art technologies one person, the pilot, would receive minimal G-forces. That pilot of course, is Major Ronald Stoppable.

How this Space-Sled/Engine would get in to high orbit, which is where the test would occur, was by a standard rocket.

 **Standing there alone** on the launch pad is the rocket aptly named the Kepler Mark 1V. There **the ship is waiting** … waiting for the final count down.

" **All systems are go**." The Flight Director said, and nodded at Dr. James Possible.

" **Are you sure**?" Dr. Possible asked, with a worried look on his face.

"Ground **Control is not convinced, but the computer** **has the evidence** correlated and everything looks fine. So **no need to abort**." **The countdown starts.**

 **Watching in a trance** , **the crew** involved with this launch **is certain nothing** is **left to chance** and they are positive **all is working** as it should be.

 **Trying to relax up in the capsule** (also known as the space-sled), a voice is heard from communications. **"Send me up a drink"**. **Jokes Major Ron** in an effort to keep things light.

 **The count goes on** to the launch, and everyone collectively held their breath **. 4… 3… 2… 1!**

The rocket blasted off without a hitch, and Major Ron quickly checked all readouts and made sure there was still a communication link between him and Middleton. As he did this he couldn't help but sing part of an old song from the 80's… **"Earth below us, drifting, falling… floating weightless, calling, calling home."**

"Ground Control, this is Major Ron… err, Stoppable… **second stage is cut, we're now in orbit. Stabilizers up… running perfect. Starting to collect requested data** now that I'm floating free in space.I'll soon be able to kick on the Sled's engine, and we can commence with the first test."

Just after Ron sent his last message, he noticed a pressure gauge spike for a few seconds, but then return to normal. He tapped the glass covering said gauge to see if the needle would move again, but it didn't.

 _Huh_ … _If that gauge spikes again,_ _ **what will it affect when all is done?**_ **Thinks Major Ron.**

Then he moved his eyes to the timer that started just a moment ago to mark when the Sled's main engine would be activated by those still on the ground, accelerating him forward in the direction of the moon. The plan for this test was that Ron would actually travel to the moon, slingshot around, and then return back to Earth. At the speeds he would be travelling, the entire test/trip should last no more than about four hours. A new speed record in space.

As the timer counted down, Ron braced himself, and finally the timer hit zero. Immediately he felt an incredible pressure as the engine kicked on, thrusting him forward. Major Ron never noticed that the gauge that had spiked earlier spiked again just before the engine started.

…x x x x…

 **Back at Ground Control there is a problem.** "Major Ron! **Go to rockets full**! We're showing your engine never kicked on… use manual override!" Silence. "He's **not responding,** Flight!"

James Possible quickly grabbed a nearby microphone stand and pressed the button that should have connected him to the Space Sled. " **Hello Major Ron, are you receiving?** **Turn the thrusters on** … **we're standing by**." Unfortunately, **there's no reply**.

…x x x x…

Back on the Space Sled, Ron was frantically trying to call Middleton Space Center. His speed was much higher than anticipated after the slingshot, and he was having trouble seeing from the G-forces on his body. The systems just weren't meant to handle this much speed. The Space Sled was equipped with an emergency-braking thruster that was mounted on the front of the craft, but Ron wasn't sure if it could handle this kind of speed.

 **4… 3… 2…1…** Just as he was about to engage the braking thruster, he had another idea _. I wonder if the ship could handle the slingshot at this speed? I have a 1 in 3 chance of making it. I'll either crash on the dark side of the moon, be shot off into open space where no one would be able to find me, or it will work and I'll be home in time for dinner._

Ron's final decision was to go through with the slingshot, as the braking thruster had a higher chance of failing. So he had one final chance at contacting the space center before this process would start, and that was by Emergency Buoy. He would need to record a short message, and then jettison the canister-looking device before reaching the moon, and it was looking quite large on his view screen.

As he pressed a couple of switches and turned a few dials to record his short message, Major Ron started to again to sing that old 80's song . **"Earth below us, drifting, falling… floating weightless… calling, calling home."** He only hoped that the buoy would be able to make contact with Earth before he crossed over to the dark side of the moon.

…x x x x…

Back at ground Control in Middleton, everyone in the Launch Room was working feverishly trying to either make contact with Major Ron, or somehow locate where in space he was, as all Telemetry for the vehicle had disappeared.

One of the communication officers suddenly spoke up. "Hey everybody, I've got something! It's weird though. It's kind of bouncing, or coming **across the Stratosphere** , of all things! It seems to be… **a final message** "

The officer turned the speaker up to almost full volume, and through loud static, Major Ron's voice could be heard. **"Give my wife my love..."** **Then nothing more**.

"I… I think we lost him…"

…x x x x…

Somehow, Ron wasn't quite sure how, but the automated systems kicked in and were able to perform the slingshot almost perfectly. Almost, that is… as he was pointed towards the trailing edge of the Earth, whereas he should have been heading for the leading edge.

 **Far beneath the ship, the world was mourning** , as the announcement had been made that Major Ron was lost in space during a test. But **they don't realize** that **he's alive**. Kim Possible was heard to have blamed her father for causing this to happen.

It had been about six hours since the start of this mission, and Ron was finally able to get his communications working again. He sent out only the second message from Space Sled I, and it couldn't have been more important for his survival.

…x x x x…

"Hello… this is major Ron… err, Stoppable, calling Ground Control at Middleton. Do you copy?" Ron had to repeat himself twice before someone replied.

"OK, who is this, and I hope you realize this is a very sick joke." It was the communications officer that had heard the call.

"This is no joke, Command. This is Major Ron…" He then proceeded to call out his personal serial number, and the communications officer sat up straight with his eyes wide.

"I'm… I'm sorry sir. Can you tell us your location so we can find you? The telemetry from your ship is gone. If you can give us a general location, we should be able to find you with our space-based radar system."

After a few quick calls, most of the Launch Team had been recalled back and were able to get a lock on Major Ron's location. He was actually in a high orbit around the Earth. **No one understands** just what happened, but somehow **Major Ron sees** what occurred.

As Ron stared at the Earth through his viewer, he dimmed the display so he could watch as the sun began to peak around the beautiful blue orb spinning in a sea of blackness.

A tear fell from his eye as Major Ron keyed up his communications one last time before de-orbiting. **"Now the light commands… this is my home, I'm coming home."**

Once again, that same 80's song came to mind and Major Ron started singing. What he didn't realize was that his mic was still open and everyone at Middleton Aeronautics and Space Administration could hear him. " **Earth below us drifting, falling… floating weightless… coming home! Earth below us… drifting, falling… floating weightless coming, coming… home, home…** "

After landing and returning home to a _very_ distraught wife, Major Ron promised he would no longer test any vehicles that would leave the confines of Earth's gravity. Besides… he needed to start working on a family.

The End…

* * *

Oh… and if there is any song you may recognize within this story, it was purely coincidental. (Not!) With apologies to Peter Schilling, the one who sang the previously mentioned song.


End file.
